"Untitled"
Short Story

by Delores McCarter

It was a few minutes before 6:00 in the morning but I was already wide awake. It was much too early to do anything because everyone was still asleep. With nothing better to do, I walked over to the window and watched the city of Rome wake up.

There is something breathtaking about watching the sun rise in Italy. The piazza was quiet with the exception of a few birds. The street vendors did not arrive yet so it wasn't much activity to see from my seventeenth floor window. That was until I heard the faint clacking sound that reminded me of New York city. The sound of high heels shoes against a city street has a pretty distinctive sound. Just as I thought, a few seconds later, a couple turned the corner and walked down toward the Trevi fountain.

The couple was dressed sharply for the early morning hour. The woman wore a white halter dress with a large white hat and a pair of the cutest high heeled shoes I've seen in a while. The man wore a white linen shirt and a pair of khaki slacks and a pair of shades. His face was blocked by the large hat, but I wasn't paying much attention to him. I was busy looking at the woman's high heeled shoes. It's a bit early in the morning to be decked out like that. I thought. Maybe they were just now ending their date from the night before.

The couple stopped in front of the Trevi fountain and kissed. I looked around my hotel room for the binoculars but I couldn't find them. Although I couldn't make out the faces, I could tell they were doing the kind of kissing that stops traffic. But there was no traffic this early in the morning. No one was around except me, a nosy teenager with nothing to do but to wait for everyone else to wake up. This couple was obviously in love. Maybe the guy is saying goodbye to his mistress before he goes home to his wife. I joked.

The man caressed the woman's back slowly while she caressed the back of his neck. They kissed deeply and slowly. I felt a little guilty staring at them but pasionnate kisses in Rome seems to go hand in hand with the Italian art. Maybe that is why they looked so romantic while they kissed in front of the Trevi. The couple stopped kissing long enough to hold each other in a tight embrace that seemed to last an entire five minutes. Maybe he was a military guy saying goodbye to his girl. I thought. That had to be the case with the way he was holding and kissing her. That is the kind of passion that keeps a man thinking about his woman while he is hundreds of miles away. I want to experience that kind of passion one day and when I do, I'm going to marry him. I thought.

The lovers turned and headed toward the hotel. As they walked up the piazza, they came closer into view. The woman removed her hat and her black tresses bounced against her face in a familiar gesture I've seen hundreds of times before. As she shook her hair back into place, I realized exactly who they were. "You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. My little brother Leo whimpered in response. I walked over to his crib but he continued sleeping. The next look outside the window confirmed my hunch.

The passionate lovers down at the Trevi fountain were my own parents.